Androids will pair with Bluetooth headsets with just a tap, no more fussing with settings
The seamless pairing process that Apple's AirPods can do with iPhones is coming to Android.
On Tuesday, Google announced in a blog post that it's bringing a feature called Fast Pair to Androids, that'll allow devices to easily discover and pair with compatible devices nearby.
That means eventually, you won't need to go through the traditional Bluetooth pairing steps of digging through your settings, ensuring your device is discoverable, punching in pairing codes, and so on.
Just bring a Fast Pair device near your phone, and you'll get a prompt to say it's been detected. Tap the drop-down and it'll start the pairing.
Google says the feature works by having the pairing device constantly broadcast a signal, which the phone picks up. After the user confirms that they want the pairing to be done, a regular Bluetooth connection is made.
It'll work on handsets running Android 6.0 Marshmallow or above, and with Google Play services 11.7+.
So far, only a couple of headsets support the feature, but that's set to grow quickly. Fast Pair is already on Google's own Pixel Buds, and a third-party headset, the Libratone Q Adapt headphones.
It'll soon come to Plantronics' Voyager 8200 series headsets -- and one day, hopefully every headphone down the line, to eradicate ever dealing with clunky old Bluetooth pairing, forever.
Victoria Ho is Mashable's Asia Editor, based in Singapore. She previously reported on news and tech at The Business Times, TechCrunch and ZDNet. When she isn't writing, she's making music with her band
